Reviewing the year ...

It seems that one is semi-expected to look back and review the year that went by. At first thought I don't have much to say about it. I'm not sure if much happened in my life, the last few months have been sort of mellow and uneventful. But, I did move to a new country, a few months - and what seems now to be ages - ago. That is no small thing, I guess. Even if it's not the first time around for me. But I am with my sweetie and we have our little routine and somehow things don't appear all that foreign here.

My moving and packing my life up in boxes and storing or giving away was one thing. Another thing was going back to school. That took a lot of effort and organization. Although at times it thrilled me to by studying again, at other times I was almost tempted to give up on it. I myself was probably my worst enemy, with my doubts and lack of self esteem. My husband was my best ally, lending an ear to my worries and complaints but refusing to pity me. Just as when he made me climb my first route and wouldn't belay me down when I got stuck, but had me hang onto the wall for half an hour until I gathered the courage to finish it.

I've been spending a lot of time with my hubby, and sometimes it feels as if we don't do much else than that. But I love it. I never had a boyfriend before with whom I could spend so much time without needing to get him out of my face ... But I'm also more dependant on him now that I'm so far away from home and my little nest.

"Home" is far away, both in time and space. I miss not hearing more from family and friends back there, but this is how it is. On the other hand, communication and information is readily available, and I now have access to their local newspapers, radio and television almost as if i was there. That is quite different from the last time I was living abroad when I would be glad if I got my hands on a month old paper, shipped by mail. This year I will find out whether it will be possible to maintain contact with my folks back home at all.

I had two longer trips/vacations last year. The first was my expedition down to Mexico where I (maybe for the last time) took part in an IMO with my spirited students. It was great to meet colleagues again. Then, as an aside I got to travel twenty years back in time as I caught up with a lost friend/sweetheart.

My second trip was our roadtrip up California into Utah and back. I was flabbergasted to realize what fantastic sites there are to discover out here. I have now visited 6 (Joshua Tree, Yosemite, Death Valley, Zion, Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon) of America's 56 (?) national parks and can't wait to get on the road again.

We began the year 2005 in the quiet and peace of the mountains of Þórsmörk. We ended the year up in the mountains again, this time in the crazy company of Slavic yuppies.

By the end of this year, I hope we will have made ourselves more of a cozy home here. If everything goes according to plan I will also have finished all the core classes of my PhD program. For the rest, I hope we will be spared both natural catastrophies and personal tragedies this year.

Amen!